Riptide
by high-nooned
Summary: Jamison doesn't know how to swim, but insists otherwise. McCree is getting real tired of having to save him.
1. Chapter 1

"Stupid kid," Jesse McCree said for the bazillionth time that summer. Of course, Jamison was in the water, again, flapping his arms and splashing about in the water, again, and McCree was going to have to save the kid, again.

Blowing his whistle, the lifeguard went to work and sprinted towards the rolling waves, diving in with a complete sense of urgency and his focus on getting the Junker to safety.

Strong arms cut through the tides towards the flailing Australian, who by now was growing exhausted from his panicked kicking to keep his head just above the water and Jesse wraps an arm around him to push him up and over his shoulder to keep his head above water. Jamison choked and coughed up water, practically shaking in the lifeguard's arms as they made their way back to shore.

It wasn't saving the Junker that bothered McCree so much; it was his duty so ensure the safety of every single person on the beach and in the unforgiving ocean. No, he loved saving people, but Jamison was playing a game with the cowboy, purposely ignoring his authority that's only purpose was to keep him from drowning himself. Having one leg was not benefiting the Aussie one bit. Jamison could hardly keep his head above water, despite his height, and McCree had warned him more than once to stay in shallow water.

But that Junkrat was a stubborn one.

"That's three times now, boy." McCree scolded, setting him down on the damp sand and inspecting him over with a critical eye. "Ya must have a death wish, going out that far…"

Jamison's chest heaved as he coughed up water, eyes squeezed shut. But, of course, a crazed grin spread across his wet face. "Hooley Dooley! Did ya see that one, mate? I almost got swept away!"

Pinching the bridge of his nose as Jamison let out a high-pitched cackle, McCree settled on one knee and shook his head. This kid was as reckless as they came.

"I'm tired of warnin' you, Fawkes," he pointed with a red metal finger right in the center of his chest, "stay close to shore, or you'll be sorry."

The cowboy hoped the kid would heed his warning this time.

Standing at his post, McCree watched over the water. He hadn't seen Jamison's face around since the last incident hours ago. Feeling his threat made an impact, he allowed himself to relax. Little did he know, the lack of the Aussie's presence only meant trouble, for the Junker had devised a devious scheme to distract the cowboy.

Watching from behind a palm tree, a high-pitched squeal of delight erupted from him as his scheme went into play.

"Hiya, Jesse." A sweet voice rang, Jesse peeking down from above his shades to see Hana standing before him, hands on her hips as she grinned up at him. Beside her stood Angela, who smiled softly at the cowboy.

Sitting up straighter, McCree grinned down at the women and asked, "Well howdy, ladies. What brings ya 'round here?" He inquired, slipping his shades off and standing to properly greet the women by kissing the tops of their hands. Such a gentleman, that Jesse McCree.

"We were just wondering if you could tell us the time?"

McCree's favorite question.

"I reckon it's about high noon," checking the sky, there was no mistake by the confident grin that spread across his tanned face. Many Overwatch operatives made a joke out of the cowboy's phrase, but McCree said it regardless.

Giggles followed shortly after and McCree was almost completely distracted by the women now. Running his hand through bleached locks, he chuckled and flexed his muscles to show off as the three of them began to talk about the ocean and the plans for the rest of the summer.

Junkrat's plan was going accordingly. With the lifeguard distracted, he could get back into the water right under his nose! With that, he darted out to the crashing waves and giggled maniacally. He stomped through the waves, heading farther and farther in the water until it was about waist height. There was no stopping him now that McCree's attention was diverted by the women, all he needed was to get past the waves and – wait a minute, was he drifting farther into the sea?

Something wasn't right! Rather than pushing him back to shore, the water was pulling him in farther and he was finding it difficult to fight against it. This current was strong, and he could feel it grabbing at him to take him to the depths of the ocean. Junkrat suddenly felt a panicked pang in his chest. Maybe McCree had been right, maybe he should have stayed closer to shore. The rip current was relentless, sucking him in, and if the Aussie kept his foot grounded in the sand below, he would have been fine. However, suddenly freaked about drowning, he kicked his feet and was pulled into a crashing wave. The wave rolled him around beneath the water for some time until he could finally flail above shore and let out a cry. But not long after, another wave crashed down on him and filled his lungs as he inhaled sharply out of surprise.

The ocean roared louder than the man's shrill, sputtered cries, and with McCree's focus on Angela and Hana, he had no idea Jamison was fighting for his life trapped beneath the rip current.


	2. Chapter 2

McCree wasn't always in tune with his instincts, more inclined to go with the flow, but now he had an almost gut wrenching feeling that something was incredibly off. His eyes darted off to the sea, eyes squinting momentarily as he scanned it over. Nothing appeared to be wrong, but just because he couldn't see it didn't mean it wasn't there. Scanning across, he was quickly brought back to the conversation by a lithe hand waving before his tanned face.

"Something wrong, Jesse?"

"What – oh uh, I just had a weird feelin', is all. Will you excuse me for a moment?"

Wandering away from Hana and Angela, towards water with his hat held to his chest with a red metal hand, he peered closely over the waves as best he could. He knew something was off. Quickly, his eyes darted to find Jamison: still not a glimpse of him in sight. How uncharacteristic, if the kid wasn't bothering someone on shore, he had to be –

That was when he heard it, a muffled cry that would have otherwise been drowned out over the roar of the waves. The lifeguard sprang into action (for the fourth time that day) and sprinted as fast as he could, kicking up sand as he tossed his straw hat to the side. It had to be Jamison he heard!

Jamison was exhausted, his panicked flailing wearing him out in such a short time. All his stored energy was gone, he was choking on water, and the waves were relentless as the pulled him under over and over (and over) again. It was a wonder he was still conscious at this rate, but the Aussie had withstood far worse before. That was no excuse for his decision to overlook McCree's authority.

Labor-roughened hands cut through waves like nothing, McCree's search so far unproductive as he scanned over the waves for the other man. Maybe his gut had been wrong, maybe he ate some bad fish during his lunch break. He wouldn't ignore that feeling, however, not until he was certain the kid was all right.

Cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice over the water, he called, "Jamison?" No answer. "Dammit, kid. If ya can hear me, say somethin'!"

Say anything.

The Junker could hear Jesse, like he wasn't far, yet too far away. He wondered if the Cowboy's voice was his imagination playing tricks on him. Was he already so far gone that he was hearing things now? The idea panicked him once again, a weak arm flailing up and his raw throat crying out, "Stop that! Stop toyin' with me!"

McCree's head perked up. He heard something faintly, eyes darting in the direction where the sound seemingly originated before it hit him: the rip current.

"Shit! Jamison!" McCree practically yelped before swimming that direction. The kid had to be on his way straight out to the ocean and was probably attempting to swim towards it rather than off to the sides of it. Jesse needed to get him out of there before the current wore him out beyond saving. "Kid, I need ya to swim towards my voice!"

Coughing up water, he'd almost missed the other man directing him. Now he was questioning his sanity further. Could McCree really be there? Could he be saved? Deciding he didn't have anything to lose, he followed the directions given. Alas, he was too weak, having exhausted almost all of his energy despite his attempts. The current was too strong, thus continuing to pull him out.

McCree considered the outcome, the possibility of Jamison being to weak to swim actually out of the tide. However, rip currents were never very long distance-wise. Eventually, the current would have to end, and Jesse hoped it would end soon before things turned fatal. "Jamison," he called, cupping his hands over his mouth to amplify his voice, "just stay still! Don't fight it, I'm comin' to get you."

Swimming towards the strong current now, Jesse made it there in no time, searching about until he saw what he assumed was Junkrat's hair and swam as fast as he could to catch his arm thin. The lanky man was nearly limp, having exhausted himself completely. It was a wonder that McCree made it to him in time.

Before he had time to check and make sure he was all right, McCree had to get him out of that current. So, he swam diagonal to the strong pull and straight to shore, following the waves until he finally reached the sandy beach.

Something felt familiar about the situation.

Angela met him halfway to the warm sand as he placed him down, kneeling beside the men as McCree immediately proceeded to check for any injury. He had an ear hovering above his mouth, trying to catch any signs of breathing only to find he was indeed breathing, but having a hard time at it. "Dammit, Jamison," he cursed as he proceeded to perform CPR. Angela kept a worried eye on the two, ready t o jump in to help at any moment.

"Come on, kid… c'mon." The cowboy whispered as he pressed on the other man's thin chest.

Jamison suddenly jerked upwards, letting out a loud wretch followed by a cough and it was like music to Jesse's ears. "Yes, that's it!" He encouraged, "cough it up. Get it outta ya."

Water sputtered out of his mouth as McCree pat him on the back, eyes darting side to side as he observed the small crowd that had gathered. "Am I… Am I dead, mate?"

"Naw, ya ain't. Thanks to me. If I hadn't gotten there in time, you woulda been a goner." Jesse wanted to sound intimidating, but he sounded more relieved than anything. He couldn't have that sort of thing on his conscious. He considered Jamison a friend, despite the hard time the kid constantly gave him.

"I uh… I guess I owe you an apology, don't I?"

"You don't owe me nothin', Fawkes. I just hope this time, you really learned your lesson."

"Sure did, mate. I don't think I ever wanna get in the water again."

McCree shook his head. "That may be, but when you do, I hope you can take the time to learn to swim."

Jamison's eyes darted between the two and Angela gave him a small smile and a soft nod, agreeing with the cowboy. "Jesse is right, Jamison. You cannot just bolt into the water like that anymore. This incident could have been far more fatal."

The Aussie nodded his head, bowed down shamefully.

"But," Angela continued, "I think I speak for both Jesse and myself when I say we are so relieved you're alright. Now come along, let's get you to first aid so we can check your vitals."

Climbing to his feet (er, foot), he joined Angela as she waved him along. Jesse let out a sigh as he watched the two leave, plopping his behind in the warm sand for a moment. He was going to need a drink after this one, and it was looking about time for him to take a break, or two.


	3. Epilogue

Days had passed since Jamison's near-death incident and Jesse felt at ease that he hadn't seen the kid around the beach since. He had hoped the experience had taught him a very important lesson, or at least inspired him to sign up for swimming lessons.

McCree sat on his post, taking a big swig from his water bottle. Scanning across the beach, he saw Jamison and almost spit his water out. What was the kid doing? Why, of course he was running towards the water!

Jumping down instinctively, he ran towards the other with his arms waving in the air and shouting, "Stop! Stop!"

Jamison halted in place, turning to the lifeguard with a goofy grin.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jesse asked, out of breath.

"Goin' for a swim, mate. What's it look like?"

Jesse glared, whipping his glasses off before he got a good look at Jamison's getup; the kid was wearing a pair of orange inflatable arm bands, and an even better sight, a yellow duck floatie strapped to his back.

The kid came prepared.

"Well I'll be darned, look at that. Now you're thinkin'." Jesse smiled and pat Jamison on the head, which would have bothered the Aussie, but after Jesse saved his life it didn't bother him much anymore. He owed the cowboy his life.

McCree couldn't find it in himself to be upset anymore. Jamison was making an attempt, at least. But, he couldn't let him go out in the water alone, not yet. "How 'bout I join ya? My shift is about over anyway, we can get a li'l group goin' and play some water polo!"

Jamison's eyes lit up, an usually devious grin spreading across his face, but Jesse could see his eyes light up. He wasn't always the best when it came to making friends, the only person who gave him the time of day was Roadie. It was rare when anyone outside his extremely tight circle of friends invited him to do anything, because, well, people just didn't understand him. This was an opportunity he wouldn't pass up.

"Sure, mate! I'd love to!" He exclaimed, jumping up in the air excitedly.

Not only would McCree get to keep a closer and more careful eye on the Junker, but he might be able to see through the kid's explosive personality.

Wrapping a strong arm over his thin, shoulders, he gestured towards the volleyball nets and said, "Come on, I think I saw Lucio and Hana playin' over there. Let's go ask 'em if they're up for a game or two."

And so, the Junker and the Cowboy set off, thus sparking the beginning of one of the wildest friendships McCree ever had.


End file.
